TASI ARTSkool offers students diverse activities
Participants in TASI’s Summer ARTSkool 2016. ISSUE photo by Stephan Malick.
Summer is a time to relax and have fun — and there’s nothing more fun than getting together with friends to create art.
The Art Studio, Inc. will hold its Summer ARTSkool, July 17-21 and July 24-28.
“Summer ARTSkool is a program for kids to get to really enjoy art, and to have some activity for them to do besides swimming and sports and things like that,” Greg Busceme, TASI director, said. “We think art is a real key to all the rest of the forms of education to be a good student — to be a good learner.”
Drawing, ceramic, film, photography, paper machete and mixed media classes are taught mornings from 9:30 a.m. to noon, and afternoons from 12:30 to 3 p.m. However, students are free to choose morning sessions or afternoon sessions.
Each class offered at The Art Studio teaches students how to get a broad range on all the different art forms and gives them a chance to find their niche.
“When printmaking, you have to think upside down and backwards,” Busceme said. “You have to think, ‘Well, if I have to put words on this, I have to write them backwards in order for them to print.’ Your brain has to work it out to be able to do that. Classes are taught by artists, not teachers, so there’s a different approach to the process.
“Artists teach the basics of things and not necessarily fun activities where you come out with a product. They teach the basis of what the color theory is, what drawing is, where you begin, how to shadow — things like that. Same thing with printmaking process or clay. We have drawing, printmaking, ceramics, film photography, dealing with photographing and working with cameras, paper machete and a mixed media project which kind of takes in a little bit of everything.”
The summer ARTSkool will further kids in their creative thinking and, potentially, their academics, Busceme said.
Greg Busceme teaches ceramics at The Art Studio’s Summer ARTSkool 2016. ISSUE photo by Stehan Malick.
“Even dance, music and theater all provide a certain other capability,” he said. “I always heard when dance programs are taken out of the schools, (dancers) math capabilities decrease by 30 percent. Dance is really important toward mathematics. It’s all about making a mind exercise in ways that you don’t really get otherwise. Sports are great. You have to coordinate yourself, but this is far more complex.”
At the end of all the week, a reception will be held where students will showcase the work they have created throughout the summer camp.
“We’ll pull the artwork together on Friday and then have a show,” Busceme said. “The parents come out to pick them up and see the exhibit, and then they all take their work home.”
Each week costs $200 and the kids are sure to leave with more than they came with, Busceme said.
“We ask the kids to dress for a mess. (They) are going to get dirty or muddy — covered in glue or paint or something,” she said. “Don’t expect them to come home looking the same way as they got there.
“We aims to help kids think creatively — not necessarily turn them into artists.”
For more information, call 409-838-5393, or visit www,artstudio.org.
By Shelby Strickland, ISSUE contributor